In a study, researchers from Cornell University in the US compared hundreds of genomes from a primarily vegetarian population in Pune, India to traditional meat-eating people in Kansas and concluded that there was a significant genetic difference. In their opinion, long term vegetarianism can lead to genetic mutations that, in turn, increases the risk of heart disease and cancer.
This has been reported in
nzherald.co.nz dated 30 March 2016.
The study has found that populations who have had a primarily vegetarian diet for generations were found to be far more likely to carry DNA that makes them susceptible to inflammation. Scientists in the US feel that the mutation took place to make it easier for vegetarians to absorb essential fatty acids from plants. However, the flip side is that it has the knock-on effect of boosting the production of arachidonic acid. This acid is known to increase inflammatory disease and cancer and, in conjunction with a diet high in vegetable oils - like sunflower oil - the mutated gene quickly turns fatty acids into dangerous arachidonic acid.
The researchers expect the finding to help explain previous research which found vegetarian populations are nearly 40 per cent more likely to suffer colorectal cancer than meat eaters. This finding has puzzled doctors because the general perception was that eating red meat raises the risk.
Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org
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